Steil and Walker’s point is that while the US, German, UK, and Swedish banks cut back on exposure to Russia in Q4 2013, French banks did not very much. France’s $50 bln is by far the greatest exposure. Moreover, they note that a good part of France’s exposure is illiquid as it is in the form of Soc Gen’s (OTC:SCGLF) ownership stake of Russia’s 9th largest bank Rosbank, worth about $22 bln. Steil and Walker muse that maybe US money markets and other investors should re-evaluate their exposures to French banks.

This may be a good place to begin, but not to finish. The situation is more complicated. For